Life sentence for man for making boy hold paint buckets

ATLANTA - Prosecutors say a suburban Atlanta man who forced a boy to hold paint buckets outdoors for hours as punishment on a hot June day has been sentenced to life imprisonment plus 50 years.

The Fulton County District Attorney's Office says 32-year-old Omar Pitts of College Park pleaded guilty Friday to murder and other charges in the death of his girlfriend's 12-year-old brother, Jay'tavious Mahone.

District Attorney Paul Howard Jr. said paramedics tried to revive Mahone outside a College Park home on June 17, 2010, but he later died. Howard's statement says investigators determined the boy also was forced to wear a dress and makeup, punished for taking his shoes off after being told not to. Authorities say Pitts also kicked Mahone after the boy collapsed after hours in the sun.